FLRA Issues Guide to Negotiability

The Federal Labor Relations Authority (FLRA) has announced the issuance of the Guide to Negotiability Under the Federal Service Labor-Management Relations Statute.

The Federal Labor Relations Authority (FLRA) has announced the issuance of the Guide to Negotiability Under the Federal Service Labor-Management Relations Statute (the Guide). Through an April 22, 2013 press release, and at the Society of Federal Labor and Employment Relations Professionals’ Annual Symposium, the FLRA solicited input on a first draft of the Guide, as well as on an accompanying slide presentation. The FLRA considered the feedback that it received and, as a result, made many changes in the version of the Guide that issued today.

The Guide addresses: (1) negotiability terms and concepts; (2) the negotiability process; (3) the bases for dismissing negotiability petitions; and (4) some substantive issues that frequently arise in negotiability cases, including management rights. The Guide is available on the FLRA’s web site.

In addition, the FLRA is currently incorporating the feedback that it received on the draft slide presentation. The FLRA plans to announce a series of negotiability-training dates in the near future.

Developing negotiability-training materials is another example of the FLRA’s ongoing efforts to better serve its customers and to provide current, useful tools for federal employees, the unions that represent them, and federal agencies in resolving issues under the Federal Service Labor- Management Relations Statute.

The FLRA administers the labor-management relations program for 2.1 million non-Postal federal employees worldwide, approximately 1.2 million of whom are represented in 2,200 bargaining units. It is charged with providing leadership in establishing policies and guidance related to federal sector labor-management relations and with resolving disputes under, and ensuring compliance with, the Federal Service Labor-Management Relations Statute.